Its so nice to have a little spare time

Ive made ANZAC biscuits (again - this recipe had 2 tablespoons of golden syrup and turned out so much better!), quince paste twice - there were so many quinces out back when I got back from Melbourne. I wonder what quince paste with chilli is like, all that sugar should balance the heat. Will have to wait and see. I also made pumpkin soup, fresh pesto and I want to stew the last of the apples I picked from near the hole when I took Boo for a walk and I really want to bake some more - I just need someone to eat my sugary treats for me, otherwise I'm going to turn into a melon over winter!

Cold snap

It is cold, wet, windy and miserable. We had our first fire yesterday (and I forget the marshmallows when I went shopping, bugger). We even let Boo inside as there was some thunder. Once the thunder passed any time I walked past the laundry and looked at her she would start shivering. As soon as she realised I wasn't going to send her outside she stopped. She also wouldn't make eye contact - if she cant see me, I cant see her and hence wont send her outside. However she isn't allowed to sleep inside so late in the evening, when I was making my dinner I got her favourite food and took it out to her bed. She hesitated on the threshold to the house, but in the end food won out.

I made ANZAC biscuits the other day. They didn't spread as I'd hoped but they tasted really good, my mother even said so.

Since the mother duck and her young have taken up residence on the top dam

I have started referring to it as a pond. I really need to stop.

Melbourne

As harvest is over and things have quietened down at the vineyard I decided to visit Brendan and Sophie in Melbourne. It was a lovely long weekend, involving eating delicious food, a few drinks, some shopping (well not all that much shopping), baking and relaxing with Brendan and Soph. The weather was also prefect while I was there.

One less chook....

The chooks have stopped laying, which is bad news as Dad is hungry for pavlovas, but the pigeons have started laying again, three pairs are sitting on eggs, one pair making a nest on the ground.... a little odd if you ask me.

Ive just noticed autumn is here

And suddenly it was all over

We harvested the last few rows today. I am so glad it is over for the year. Well not all over, we are still making the wine, but at least the harvest is over!

That's a little better

A night on the skins appears to have given this little one a better colour, but its never going to have great colour so we are making it into a rose.

Glass of red anyone?

This is the juice of one of our reds straight after crushing.

Sidoney

Headed to Sydney for Sunday birthday drinks to celebrate Mim's 30th. It was a lovely afternoon/evening, however I should have eaten more than a bowl of gelati. But it was a huge bowl of gelati. And it was free, sort of. I took a bottle of wine to my gelati man to say thank you for all the free gelati he gives me. So he gave me a bowl of gelati - the meringue gelati was a pleasant surprise. Does this now mean I owe him more wine? Ah the dilemers of receiving free stuff. Dad's suffering from the same issues - he recently sent a customer a free 6 pack - with a requested delivery, because he is ordering so much of our wine. But today he received another order and now wonders if the free 6 pack will be expected. I think not.

Anyway back to the weekend. It started quietly enough, Friday night I was at the vineyard, Saturday Xanthe came back from Griffith, Saturday afternoon I drove to Sydney and had a quiet evening (what is with the quiet weekends?) with Boppa and Nanna. Sunday I tried to find some warm clothes (I hate shopping), visited my cousin - which coincidently was his daughters birthday - she thought I was visiting for her birthday.... wish I had remembered then I would have taken a present.... oh well. I then headed to Newtown and had aforementioned gelati. My gelati man told me he loved me. Arriving on time meant I got to catch up with Mim and Chris and Matt at The Bank before everyone else arrived. On Monday I drove back to the vineyard. Not a very long trip, quiet short really for a ll the driving involved, but it was great to get away.

Tip for the day

Try to avoid doing strenuous work over a bin emitting alcohol fumes.

I may currently be impersonating a farmer, but here is a photo from another life when I was doing research at Oxford.These are Bacillus subtilis cells. I mutated a gene to prove its two functions were performed by different regions of the protein.

The cell wall is stained red and the DNA, blue.

It takes a lot of beer to make wine

- Dad's comment upon taking the last beer from the fridge.

My wine...

Just a little summary of the babies I am nurturing.

1. Barrel of Tokay
2. Barrel of Gamay
3. Barrel of Pinot Noir
4. Tank of Pinot Noir
5. Tank of Shiraz
6. 3 Barrels of Shiraz

7. 8 bins of fermenting Corvina
8. 2 bins of fermenting Tempranillo
9. 2 bins of Cabernet

And there is still more to pick..... I cant wait until they are all pressed off into barrels and tanks!